1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to image processing and more specifically to processing images of a material to perform a fragmentation assessment of the material.
2. Description of Related Art
Image-based rock fragmentation analysis methods use image segmentation techniques to delineate the edges of the rocks in the image. In many available image-based rock fragmentation analysis systems, rock delineation results are converted into physical rock sizes by introducing one or more reference objects, such as basketballs, into the region of interest as size-scaling references. The known reference object is then used to scale the results. In many cases access to the fragmented rock for placing the reference objects may be prohibited or difficult. Alternatively two or more parallel laser beams may be projected onto the region of interest to permit scaling of the results.
There remains a need for improved methods and apparatus for performing fragmentation assessments of materials.